Charles Chaput, Catholic Archbishop of Denver Colorado, addressed the first session of the 15th symposium for the Canon Law Association of Slovakia on Tuesday. He called upon Catholics in America and in Europe, to resist the world's intolerance of Christianity.

Tertullian once famously said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church. History has proven that to be true. And Slovakia is the perfect place for us to revisit his words today. Here, and throughout central and eastern Europe, Catholics suffered through 50 years of Nazi and Soviet murder regimes. So they know the real cost of Christian witness from bitter experience -- and also, unfortunately, the cost of cowardice, collaboration and self-delusion in the face of evil. I want to begin by suggesting that many Catholics in the United States and Western Europe today simply don’t understand those costs. Nor do they seem to care. As a result, many are indifferent to the process in our countries that social scientists like to call “secularization” – but which, in practice, involves repudiating the Christian roots and soul of our civilization.

Yes. We do understand that there are no Orthodox Nazis, Communists, Fascists or murderers of any kind.

We know that no Orthodox believer has ever lied or broken a promise.

We are painfully aware of the impeccability of Orthodox believers.

Mary

Wouldn't Fr. Ambrose argue that all EOs are Immaculately conceived?

Well, it cuts both ways.... if the All-Holy One was immaculately conceived then so am I and Pope Benedict and the Dalai Lama. But if she wasn't immaculately conceived then neither are the rest of us. We all share one and the same manner of conception.

Yes. We do understand that there are no Orthodox Nazis, Communists, Fascists or murderers of any kind.

We know that no Orthodox believer has ever lied or broken a promise.

We are painfully aware of the impeccability of Orthodox believers.

Mary

Wouldn't Fr. Ambrose argue that all EOs are Immaculately conceived?

Well, it cuts both ways.... if the All-Holy One was immaculately conceived then so am I and Pope Benedict and the Dalai Lama. But if she wasn't immaculately conceived then neither are the rest of us. We all share one and the same manner of conception.

Can we not have one discussion here without it being about the Immaculate Conception?

Yes. We do understand that there are no Orthodox Nazis, Communists, Fascists or murderers of any kind.

We know that no Orthodox believer has ever lied or broken a promise.

We are painfully aware of the impeccability of Orthodox believers.

Mary

Wouldn't Fr. Ambrose argue that all EOs are Immaculately conceived?

Given as the doctrine states that Mary was born even without what we describe as ancestral sin, to suggest such would be simply foolish.

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Yes. We do understand that there are no Orthodox Nazis, Communists, Fascists or murderers of any kind.

We know that no Orthodox believer has ever lied or broken a promise.

We are painfully aware of the impeccability of Orthodox believers.

Mary

Wouldn't Fr. Ambrose argue that all EOs are Immaculately conceived?

Given as the doctrine states that Mary was born even without what we describe as ancestral sin, to suggest such would be simply foolish.

Not all of you. I've seen you debate this issue with others on this forum. Some others here seem to argue that it is a case of innocent people being born in a corrupted world.

Ah...

Please don't misinterpret what I have to say about that doctrine.

I would say that those conceived with the ancestral curse are initially innocent. Innocent to me means not guilty: not bearing moral guilt. And I don't believe that the ancestral curse involves moral guilt. The issue is moreso holiness: whether we have a whole relationship with God. So I would say it is a matter of innocent people being born lacking holiness because their relationship with God is broken because of the sins of their ancestors.

But, with that clarification, I recognize your point that there are many who do not even recognize that the ancestral curse involves a lack of holiness.

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I stopped posting here in August 2011 because of stark disagreement with the policies of the administration and moderating team of the forums. If you desire, feel free to PM me, message me on Facebook (link in profile), or email me: cddombrowski@gmail.com

Geting back on topic, thanks for the link. I'm a great admirer of Archbishop Chaput. Why is he not a Cardinal yet!?!

I am too! You might guess.

I honestly do not know why he has not received his pretty red socks. I keep hoping. He may have been offered and either refused or delayed it. I think he would rather be an ordinary than an extra-ordinary. I get the distinct impression, from his behavior and facial expressions at the Bishop's Conflab in Dallas about the sex scandal at the turn of this century, that Church politics makes him slightly sea-sick.

Well the Archdiocese of Denver is not a very important see and is rather small at 373,000 faithful. His immediate predecessor, Cardinal Stafford, left to join the Roman Curia and was made a cardinal then. The same will happen to the outstanding Archbishop Burke of St. Louis, who is often compared to Archbishop Chaput in his outspokenness.